DVD Review - Evangelion, you are (not) that bad

The new Evangelion movie conveniently packs the first six episodes with beautiful computer animation, exceptional foreshadowing and lots of blood.

Many fans complained that "Evangelion 1.0 - You are (Not) Alone" dilutes all the epic drama of the series. However, the film actually builds on the excitement by shortening all the quiet moments of emotional brooding and moaning.

The story is a simple tale that many anime fans know by heart. Shinji Ikari, a teenage Japanese boy, receives an invitation to help his father in New Tokyo-3. However, he soon learns that his father, Gendo, only invited him to risk his life fighting humongous monsters in a giant robot, known as an Eva.

Of course, a reasonable father wouldn't want his inexperienced son in battle, but Gendo is hardly reasonable. Shinji refuses at first, until Gendo brings a wounded girl to substitute. Shinji, unwilling to let this girl die in battle, decides to pilot the Eva. Thus begins a tale in which Shinji must risk his life and his sanity by fighting numerous powerful angels.

This is an essential, abridged version of Evangelion that people must see. The one-and-a-half-hour format of the movie actually exemplifies the series' strengths, by showing only the important parts of the story. As a result, "Evangelion 1.0" portrays a compelling vision of Japan on the verge of an apocalypse. The new film overshadows the TV show version with dull, dark color tones and a completely devastated universe.

"Evangelion 1.0: You are (Not) Alone" exemplifies intense violence. Most of the film's big-budget visuals are based on the astonishing computer-generated battles, explosions and beautiful monsters. The angels' death sequences will undoubtedly shock many people with gushing explosions, in which blood literally rains down after every battle.

In spite of the larger-than-life scope of the imagery, the human characters share close bonds in a variety of added conversations with extraordinary backdrops. The new architectural landscapes include skyline bridges hanging from skyscrapers hundreds of stories high. Although much of the dialogue hasn't changed, the mounting sense of responsibility is propelled with floods of bright red color during a crisis. The few touching moments between Rei and Shinji are cooled with soft, calming color palettes of fuschia and coral blue.

Although I am not a big fan of the new shortened editions of anime shows, anyone who watches anime has to consider watching "Evangelion 1.0" at least once. The massive scale of this production's high-caliber animation is too captivating to pass up.

(Dub review) With all this said, the English dub is laughably bad. Spike Spencer literally screws up Shinji's voice with girly-man whines. He sounds as bad as Johnny Yong Bosch when he started dubbing Renton in "Eureka Seven." The voice actors ruin the mounting scale of the upcoming apocalypse by treating everything like a Saturday morning show.

It's terrible. Truly terrible.

Image courtesy of photobucket.com

DVD Review - Sadistic murders and "Dani California"

Live action adaptations of anime don't always work very well. However, the first "Death Note" movie is a chilling thriller with serial murders, demons and investigative mind games.

The movie starts straight out with a series of news reports on numerous criminals, all killed by a heart attack. All the deaths are tied to a college student named Light Yagami, who writes names in his "Death Note" book to kill them.

Director Shusuke Kaneko takes the story a step further with a scene in which Light met one of these suspected serial killers face-to-face. After the yakuza (Japanese gangster) member almost stabs Yagami on the spot, Light leaves the bar in the pouring rain. He's clearly frustrated that this murderer was set free.

Light's life takes a turn when the black "Death Note" book falls to the ground. Thinking this book is a joke, he writes the name of a serial killer whose face was on television. The next day, he opens the newspaper to find that this criminal is dead.

After killing the yakuza guy he met last night with his new book, Light runs into Ryuk, a demonic spirit who dropped the "Death Note" from the sky. Ryuk says the book is all his and that if Light doesn't want it, Ryuk will just erase his memory of the book and find another owner.

Eventually, Light proclaims himself a god of justice by killing unprosecuted suspects. He adopts on the Internet persona name "Kira." For all you English nuts, it's supposed to stand for killer. Get it? Kira is a killer?

Anyhow, most of the movie is based on the first few chapters of "Death Note." Soon, Light's father and a mysterious man named L lead a group of investigators to track Light down.

The second half of the film takes a dark turn as more people start to track down Light. Without saying too much about the ending, this movie shows off Light's lack of remorse for anyone. He's willing to risk everything to protect his precious book, even if he kills the person he loves the most.

The Japanese actors handle their roles with expertise in this new film. Tatsuya Fujiwara sounds every bit as cold and calculating as Light Yagami. During the scenes where he is eating potato chips and studying, no one would never suspect that Light is watching a hidden television for people to kill.

More than anything, this first film proves that Light is a true bastard who is more interested in killing off all criminals for his own idealized vision of Japan. Thankfully, Light hasn't killed the main protagonists yet, so there's enough room for director Kaneko to wrap this story up in the next film or two.

There are just a few problems with this movie. First, the ending credits features the Red Hot Chili Peppers song, "Dani California." There's no reason why a California song is in a film set in Japan, aside from the edgy, funky guitars in the song and the lyrics about "resting in peace." It sounds completely out of place.

Second, the demon Ryuk looks like a cheap computer-generated cartoon. The animators produced enough fine detail in his costume to make him appear half decent, but he still moves around like a puppet from the "Jason and the Argonauts" movie.

These are just minor, silly setbacks to a down-to-earth adaptation of a heartless story. The "Death Note" movie is a true descent into hell, because this time Light is an actual person, watching everyone for a chance to murder them.

Better yet, this movie includes some of the funniest English dubs. If you like your "Death Note" movie raw and intense, watch the original Japanese voice track. However, if you want to hear Japanese college students with valley girl-style accents and criminals who shout, "Son of a bitch!" and "Stop f***ing with me!", feel free to watch the English dubs.

My favorite dub joke is one uttered by the English voice actor for the criminal Takuo Shabuimoto, who says, "It's coming back. How it feels when the knife cuts deep into the flesh. And when it finally sinks right into the heart, 'Eeeeeeeeee! YAAAAAH! What am I doing here in this place? I don't remember!"

Image courtesy of l00klikeme.wordpress.com

Movie review: Eureka Seven movie soars to imaginative heights

The new "Eureka Seven" movie is filled with baffling transformations and provocative twists, but the ending is breathtaking.

For anyone who hasn't seen the series, the plot of "Eureka Seven" centers around two teenagers, Renton and Eureka, who team up with the rebel group Gekkostate to save the world from being destroyed. The movie, however, places these characters in an alternate universe, with most of them having completely different attitudes.

The film opens with the military capturing Eureka, an innocent alien girl and childhood friend of Renton. Fortunately, the military left Renton's cute larvae animal, Nirvash. The animal grows into a humongous robot, which Renton uses to fight as a corporal in the military. However, when Renton discovers Eureka in a gigantic alien Eizo, he discovers a boatload of military conspiracies.

Although it's a little difficult to follow all the plotlines in the film, "Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers" will definitely confound longtime fans of the original series. All the characters from the original series are so different in the film, thanks to some particularly shocking plot twists. For starters, all the old members of Gekkostate are actually 17-year-olds in the bodies of rapidly aging adults.

This is the most stunning transformation in the movie, turning the laidback Gekkostate members from laid-back surfers in the TV series to angry adults who want to stop all time permanantly with the help of Renton and Eureka.

People may have a tough time imagining the Gekkostate leader, Holland, as a snotty, bratty villain. However, considering how often he beat up Renton in the TV series, this change is completely understandable.

There are plenty of awkward dubs. Some parents may cringe when the teenage Eureka asks Renton if they could sleep together, just as they did when they were kids. Some of the script lines are just as strange. No one would even expect the world of Neverland to get mentioned in a film that has more to do with flashy visuals and science mumbo-jumbo.

Despite the oddity of the entire film, it all makes sense somehow. Renton and Eureka learn to love each other, no matter who tries to join them in their sadistic, violent plots. Best of all, Eureka learns to let go of her selfish attitude in order to help Renton live. "Eureka Seven" is a masterpiece in demonstrating how cooperative love can look so damned beautiful on the big screen.

Best of all, Johnny Yong Bosch gives possibly his best voice acting performance as Renton. Fans have sometimes cringed during the first few episodes of the English dub of "Eureka Seven," when he spoke in a horrible, over-feminine voice with no aggression. In "Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers," Bosch projects all his dramatic lines with breathtaking power and emotion.

The ending, to say the least, is a visual feast for the eyes. It's a heartwarming love tale, about a renewal of love over the reign of destruction and chaos. True, "Ponyo" was more refined than "Eureka Seven." However, no relationship is more compassionate than the one between Renton and Eureka.

Image courtesy of eurekasevenmovie.bandai-ent.com

DVD Review: Let's do the Time Warp again

This is one of the best anime films I've ever seen, if not the best.

"The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" is an incredible high school romance film, with time travel and emotional drama as well.

The main character, Makoto Konno is a clumsy high school girl who doesn't do so well in class. She plays baseball with her two friends: Chiaki Mamiya, an shaggy, orange-haired boy, and Kousuke Tsuda, a tall smart guy.

One day, Makoto hears something in a chemistry lab room. She sneaks in and stumbles upon a tiny nut. Then, on her bicycle ride home, her brakes go out and she almost runs into an incoming train. Instead, she stumbles into the past, at the top of the hill, before she rode down the hill.

How did she do it? Makoto's mysterious aunt suggest that Makoto may have experienced a time delay, where she leapt through time. Of course, Makoto doesn't believe it, until she tries jumping at a river, to the past. Makoto has quite a blast playing with her time leaping ability, until Chiaki asks Makoto out. Although Makoto avoids him at first, she cannot help but grow attached to Chiaki as she travels through time to change the past.

This is a touching romance about young love. "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" really excels with heart-wrenching performances from their voice actors, who really capture the full range of Makoto's anxiety and her relationship with her friend, Chiaki.

The science fiction elements in "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" are also trippy. Whenever Makoto leaps through time, she enters a stunning interdimensional portal, with computer-generated images of timers circling around her while she falls.

And believe it or not, Makoto discovers that she is not the only one who can leap through time. In fact, near the end Makoto is almost left alone, hoping that her friend could stay with her. Thankfully, the ending edges away from this depressing climax, and her best friend promises to meet her again someday.

This is an incredible film. The Japanese voice actors give the best performances. Unforunately, the English dub is mediocre at best. Thankfully, it features plenty of awesome special features, such as an audio commentary with the director and some of the voice actors. There is also a lovely music video of the ending song and a video of the opening night of the film in theaters.

This is a must-see film. Get it while you still can. There's no telling when the publishing company, Bandai, might go bankrupt in this economic crisis.

Image courtesy of animeafterglow.wordpress.com

DVD Review - Ex-Machina Excitement

Unless they've been living under a rock, nearly every anime fan has heard of the "Appleseed" movies. Based on the "Appleseed" manga by Masamune Shirow, the movies are pretty exciting shows of gunfights and cyberpunk mythology, even if they aren't that original.

"Appleseed: Ex-Machina", the third movie in the franchise, is probably the best of the Appleseed films so far. Produced by gunfight movie specialist John Woo, "Appleseed: Ex-Machina" features even flashier gunfights and a complex plot involving brainwashing.

For people unaquainted with the Appleseed franchise, the series focuses on a pair of tough E.S.W.A.T. soldiers, Deunan and Briareos (buraireiosu). While they are the best soldiers in the team, they are also a romantic wife/husband team until Briareos loses his body in an explosion. Fortunately, Briareos' body is restored in robot form. Together, they are the unstoppable duo, protecting the city-nation of Olympus from terrorists.

In "Appleseed: Ex-Machina", however, Briareos almost dies trying to save Deunan from a bomb inside one of the terrorist cyborgs. Although Deunan is grateful that Briareos only took minor damage, she isn't pleased when E.S.W.A.T. assigns her with a genetic human clone of Briareos, named Tereus. Of course, romantic tension ensues when Briareos returns to the E.S.W.A.T. team to meet his human clone. Deunan likes both of them of course, but Briareos came to her first.

With that aside, there is actually a big action plot involving a scientist named Dr. Kestner. Kestner took over a Project HALCON, a scientific project to help brain-damaged veterans with an advanced artificial intelligence system. But then the project turned the veterans insane and the project leader, Dr. Zander, was killed by veterans. Kestner vowed to get his revenge through implants into popular devices called connexus. Now the devices are transmitters which turn humans and robots insane.

Okay, the storyline is a little simplistic. Ultimately, Briareos, Deunan and Tereus decide to take on HALCON, because if they destroy the HALCON base containing the virus, they can save Olympus from being destroyed. HALCON is actually huge floating cube over the ocean. Inside the cube are tons of virus robots. Of course, the three spend their time killing robots with long machine-gun fights, acrobatics and rocket flying. And admittedly, the last fight with the core of the HALCON really isn't that spectacular.

However, the gunfights are incredible. I've honestly never seen so much flipping and jumping in a gunfight movie. In the second fight alone, Deunan spends her time flipping on steel girders and jumping all over the place just to shut off the robot with the switch on its neck. And in the HALCON gunfight, Deunan kamikazes her flying robot into another robot, ejecting before the explosion.

Okay, maybe the gunfights are ridiculously unrealistic. However, they are impressive to watch. And I also liked the twist in John Woo's use of the doves. As every John Woo fan knows, every Woo film has to have flying doves. The "Appleseed" movie puts a twist in the dove formula, though--the doves have cyborg exoskeletons containing the viruses to make robots go insane.

Okay, maybe the doves were silly. However, the movie was flashy and exciting enough to receive my approval. Despite a simplistic plot and typical John Woo silliness, this is a great-looking film with amazing computer-generated animation. "Appleseed: Ex-Machina" isn't a film to write home about, but it is fun to watch, nonetheless.

Oh, and the interview with John Woo is a good special feature as well.

Image courtesy of clockworkmachina.com

DVD - "5 centimeters per second" shows heartwarming young love

The story begins with a 5-year-old girl named Akari talking to her best friend, a boy named Takaki. "Hey, did you know that cherry blossoms fall to the ground at a rate of five centimeters per second?" Akari says to Takaki. Then, unexpectedly, Akari runs off on the other side of the railroad tracks ahead. Takaki tries to follow, but the gates close down and Akari teases him, saying, "Goodbye, Takaki!"

Even though this is a joke at the beginning of the movie "5 Centimeters Per Second," that is exactly how suddenly Akari leaves Takaki, when her parents move away to Tochigi prefecture in northern Japan.

As director Makoto Shinkai says in an interview on the DVD, "5 Centimeters Per Second" is all about the pacing of relationships. The emotions, and the imagery reflecting the emotions, are priceless.

The film is set in three parts. The first one, "Cherry Blossoms" shows off Shinkai's storytelling at his best. When Takaki's parents move to the island of Kyushu, Takaki and Akari decide to meet for one last time in Iwafune in the winter, far up north. Although the blizzard was very inconvenient for Takaki's train trip, Akari still waits for him. Probably the most tender moment is Akari and Takaki's kiss underneath a cherry blossom tree.

The second part, "Cosmonaut," deals with Takaki's relationship with Kanae Sumita in a high school in Tageshima, Kyuushu. Kanae is clearly in love with Takaki, but Takaki's head is still in the stars. He wants to go to Tokyo University, which is the most prestigious school in Japan, but Kanae wants to confess her feelings to him. They strike up a great relationship, but no matter when opportunities arise, Kanae cannot pop the question.

As for the final part, "5 Centimeters Per Second," it actually feels more like a dizzying montage of events. Takaki is receiving messages on his cell phone. Could they be messages from Akari. He has no idea, and work is just draining the energy out of him. And as Takaki passes by a girl at the same railroad crossing, he is pretty sure that it could be Akari. Or is she just a mirage of the past?

Although the ending feels less conclusive, and more like an artsy, abstract montage that moves too fast for me to follow, I think it worked perfectly for this movie. Japanese directors are never sticklers for happy endings, but realistic ones. And although Takaki might not find Akari ever again, the memories still remain with him. And these memories are the most priceless memories for him to keep.

I'm disappointed with Anime News Network's review of this masterpiece. Although the ending could disappoint some people who would rather watch a final kiss at the end, this story isn't about winning the girl. This story is about a young man who learns to stop pining away long hours at the office and find a girl he truly loves.

Based on an interview included on the DVD, at the time when director Makoto Shinkai named this movie "5 Centimeters Per Second," he stated that everything in this movie has to do with speed, even the imagery. And the lighting effects and the imagery in this film is incredible. His meeting with Akari is in a blue, snow-covered village to reflect how Takaki gets frozen in the rest of his life daydreaming about Akari. In Kanae's romance with Takaki, Kanae always notices how Takaki is always looking ahead to the future, speeding through the sky like the nearby rocket launching in the distance.

I'm sure this movie is one of the best anime films of all time. This is a gem of a movie. Watch it immediately, because no one will regret a second of the romance, the drama and the beauty of "5 Centimeters Per Second." Hopefully, after watching this film, your own relationships will not move at five centimeters per second.

Photos courtesy of animewriter.wordpress.com and sookinouta.blogspot.com